Grover Beach police officer shoots robbery suspect

April 23, 2010

A man who had robbed a gas station was shot and wounded by a Grover Beach police officer Friday morning after he tried to drive over an officer, authorities said.

David Jordon Griffin, 24, was shot inside a trailer park located at 1370 W. Grand Avenue.

Griffin, wearing a black sweat shirt and wielding a machete, entered the Kautz Chevron station at 1284 W. Grand Avenue and took an unknown amount of cash. One of the two employees present set off the silent alarm at 1:24 a.m.

Police arrived to discover Griffin running eastbound towards the trailer park. With the assistance of the Arroyo Grande Police, Pismo Beach Police, the California Highway Patrol and the San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Department, the officers set up a perimeter around the park.

An officer spotted Griffin and confronted him. He ordered Griffin to stop and give up.

Griffen, however, fled on foot into the trailer park with the officers in pursuit. He jumped into a maroon 1994 Chevrolet sedan and drove it forward into a small shed next to a trailer.

He than began backing up towards a group of officers.

A Grover Beach police officer, believing his life and the other officers lives were in danger, fired multiple shots into Griffin’s upper thigh, police said.

The officer, whose name was not released, has been placed on paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated.

Griffin was taken to Arroyo Grande Community Hospital were he was treated for his injuries and released.

He was arrested on robbery, kidnapping and attempted homicide charges. Griffin was booked into San Luis Obispo County Jail.

4 Comments

When I was a kid I say two people about a half block away in confrontation. One swung a machete at the other backing away.
A few days later I saw the other person.
He had a cast on this hand and no fingers; they were cut off (permanently).
David Griffin appears to be a nice looking kid.
Razors, knives, hatchets, machetes, screwdrivers, even a pencil can be more deadly than a firearm and they are also silent!
With respect to a car trying to run you down, very deadly.
First action is to avoid the first deadly impact by jumping on top of the car.
Next brace for the secondary less deadly impact on top of the hood and against the windshield.
But of course if you have a gun and chance, shoot downward through the upper half of the vehicle.
The lower portion will deflect of block bullets.

This guy is one very lucky dude to be able still be alive. Normally when you back a car up and try and run over a bunch of cops, you usally end up at the morgue. Of course he is going to have plenty of time to think about his actions.